In a bid to take stock of the situation, Nasscom is conducting a first-of-its-kind survey on the issue, which will cover all IT firms with US operations.Surabhi Agarwal | ET Bureau | Updated: September 21, 2017, 10:25 IST

The US government has stepped up scrutiny of employees of Indian IT services companies working at client and third-party sites in the US – months after President Donald Trump signed the ‘Buy American, Hire American’ executive order, which promised a review of the US work visa regime.

Some of the top Indian IT services firms have reported such instances to Nasscom, which has raised red flags over such probes. A top official of the industry body told ET that while the procedure is completely legal, it should not border on “harassment” and impact business.

“We are also seeing an increased trend of adjudications, documentation, request for evidence while issuing H-1B visas,” said Shivendra Singh, head-global trade development at Nasscom. He said the body is reaching out to member companies for detailed feedback.

AUS department of labor spokesman, Michael Trupo, said in an emailed response that the department does not confirm or deny prospective or ongoing investigations.

In a bid to take stock of the situation, Nasscom is currently conducting a first-of-its-kind survey on the issue, which will cover all IT firms with US operations. The findings will be taken up with authorities in the Indian and US government.

“This is something which is legal but at the same time our companies follow the due process of law and need to ensure that it does not impact business by seeming to be harassment in any way,” said Singh.

While Singh did not mention the number of such instances that have come to light or reveal the names of the Indian IT companies or their clients’ sites, he added that such investigations have happened after Trump signed the executive order in April this year.

The investigations initiated at client sites involved the official asking employees questions like how long they had been working at a particular site and if they have the required skill sets to do the particular task.

Nasscom’s detailed survey will reveal whether only a particular group of companies is impacted or the issue is more widespread.

“Right now, widespread abuse in our immigration system is allowing American workers of all backgrounds to be replaced by workers brought in from other countries to fill the same job for, sometimes, less pay. This will stop,” Trump had said before signing the executive order in April. He had said the order sets in motion the first steps to initiate “long-overdue” reforms to end “visa abuses”.

After the Trump administration took office in January 2017, there have been more than half a dozen bills which have been introduced seeking a review of the work visa programmes. While the bills are yet to be passed, there is increased scrutiny at the administration level.

Poorvi Chothani, managing partner at Law Quest, an immigration law firm with offices in the US and India, said that they have been seeing a huge spike in the number of requests for evidence (RFEs) and adjudications.

“We are addressing it, but it is increasing the time and the cost for clients ridiculously. The site visits are not new, but they have become more vigilant about it and the frequency has increased.”

She added that these measures are being driven by Trump’s executive order.

“Even though the numbers are already decreasing, the way they are adjudicating, next year many companies may not even file for H-1B visas because of the uncertainty and the burdensome process that it has become,” said Chothani, adding that a client of the law firm filed for 15 visas out of which seven were picked up in the lottery and all seven have been slapped with a '”nasty” RFE. The cost to respond to each of these RFEs could be in the range of $1,400-4,800.

According to a Reuters report, data provided by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) shows that between January 1 and August 31, the agency issued 85,000 challenges, or RFEs, to H-1B visa petitions — a 45% increase over the same period last year.

The total number of H-1B petitions rose by less than 3% in the same period. These RFEs were applicable on all the H-1B visa petitions and not just on Indian companies.

However, Indian nationals (employed by both foreign and Indian companies) typically account for 65-70% of all H-1B visas granted. While on Tuesday, the US resumed premium processing of H-1B work visa petitions, six months after it was suspended in March, the total number of visa applications — both extensions and new ones — has gone down in line with the negative sentiment around immigration in the US.

According to USCIS data, this year the American government received over 336,000 petitions for H-1B visas and had approved about 197,129 at the end of June. Last year, the US received nearly 4 lakh petitions and granted visas to nearly 3.5 lakh applicants.

There were over 247,000 petitions from Indians in 2017, down from over 300,000 in the previous year.